1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a print head with a sealant member and, more particularly, to a method for removing the sealant member automatically by a maintenance sled of a maintenance mechanism of an image forming apparatus when the image forming apparatus is powered on.
2. Description of the Related Art
Thermal ink jet print heads that contain an ink supply from the factory utilize a low vacuum level to retain the various ink colors within their nozzles. Changes in atmospheric pressure, as well as shock and vibration, require that the nozzles be sealed against leakage during shipment. Prior to first use, the nozzle seals must be removed. Historically, manufacturers have relied upon their customers to remove the nozzle seals. Photo imageable nozzle plate (PINP) materials are more susceptible to mechanical damage during the removal of sealing means than their predecessors were. Mechanical stress applied during removal of sealing means can be minimized if the rate and angle of removal can be controlled. The nozzle seals can be made from pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) materials as they maintain a level of tack sufficient to prevent ink leakage around each nozzle during storage and shipment to customers. The substrate upon which these acrylic adhesives are applied has been limited to polyimide, and specifically laser ablated Upilex. Within the printhead manufacturing facility, each head is inspected 24 hours after initial application of the PSA to ensure that no ink leakage has occurred. If ink leakage is detected, the PSA is removed from the nozzle plate, discarded, and a PSA tape is re-applied. The process of sealing and removal can be repeated up to three times before the entire print head is declared unsuitable for customer use. If the printhead passes the 24 hour leak inspection, another removal will be performed by the customer at the time of print head installation into a printer. New sealing materials and processes have been developed to comply with the aforementioned strength limitations and these materials include lower adhesion PSA as well as UV curable sealants. The new materials have addressed the problem of excessive stress during seal removal by lowering the adhesion, but have not addressed the inherent stress induced by the seal removal angle and speed.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a method to replace the variables associated with customer removal with automatic removal of a seal from the nozzle plate to ensure a specific removal angle and a specific removal speed when an image forming apparatus is powered on for the first time after the installation of an ink supply. Automated removal will allow for highly reliable removal of the seals thereby eliminating at least one source of error.